Spring Semester Wrap Up
These last few quarters have been filled with both highs and lows. I guess that’s what makes my job interesting! Within just a few months, three of my teammates departed, we merged with the CU Boulder team, my mom received a cancer diagnosis, and we concluded the year at the University of Denver with a group of highly dedicated students. Considering how the year began, it was challenging for me not to be somewhat pessimistic about the rest of it. However, hope is a virtue, and God continues to demonstrate that He is always at work.
It has been awesome to see the group of guys I am currently discipling taking steps in their faith in various ways by inviting their friends to Cru, sharing the gospel with fellow students, and participating in mission trips. One of our freshmen accompanied us on a trip to the Middle East during spring break, and another guy will be going on a 6 week summer mission to North Africa! Please pray with me for this summer mission and for the safety of all the teams going out to these places!
We are concluding this quarter reading a book together penned by a 19th-century pastor titled Thoughts for Young Men. This book had a profound impact on me in the past and it is written as a call to young men to rise above the ordinary and embrace their journey towards godliness and holiness.
In the Fall, one of our seniors will take over leading our weekly Bible study. I am excited to see him grow! We will be diving into the wisdom of the Proverbs, focusing on growing in the wisdom of God and how the Lord guides us in righteousness. He is eagerly looking forward to leading, and I am uplifted by his enthusiasm and joy.
We are needy for your prayers! Please pray for my mom’s physical and mental well-being, swift recovery, and for the doctors, surgeons, and nurses who will be conducting the transplant. We are so grateful for what they do.
As mentioned earlier, this year had its fair share of challenges. In addition to three valuable teammates leaving for various reasons, my mom (Karen) has been fighting cancer. Initially believing a pain in her leg to be a strained muscle, it was a shock to us all when she got her diagnosis the week of Christmas 2022. This news of course has deeply affected our family, reminding us of our troubled earthly realities, but we praise God for many answered prayers along the way! While her overall treatment will be a long road, her body responded fantastically to chemotherapy all winter and was in remission by early spring!
It has been hard to live away from family, but Maddie and I managed a whirlwind trip back to Chicago to celebrate my brother Luke’s high school graduation and spend time with them before my mom's next step in treatment, stem cell transplant. She was admitted to the hospital on May 25 for a round of high dose chemotherapy and received her transplant May 26!
As we approach the end of the quarter, we’ve got some great things ahead! We're concluding the school year with Bible studies and campus evangelism. We're arranging activities for students staying local such as bonfires, cookouts, Rockies’ games, and a summer Bible reading challenge. The last week in June I will be headed to Crested Butte, Colorado for 2 weeks of discipleship and leadership training for students in an intensive outdoor setting!
If you’re looking for a way to dig into Scripture this summer, I invite you to join us on our summer reading challenge! Attached here is the pamphlet that is taking Denver Cru through the entire New Testament from June to August!
Thanks for sticking with this lengthy update! I want you to know I love hearing from you all and I thank God for you! Please let me know how I can be praying for you and if you decide to try out the reading plan.
Blessings, Joey
